Just Another Night at Aiya's
by Just Another Indonesian Writer
Summary: Yasogami sophomore, blue-haired daydreamer, and logistics delivery service extraordinaire. You'll see that living the life of Aiya's delivery girl isn't as boring as you'd might expect. This is the story of the hero Inaba deserves AND needs. This is the daily life of Aika Nakamura. This is Just Another Night at Aiya's.
1. Introductions

**JUNE XX, 2011**

 **Evening - CLOUDY**

 **Central Shopping District - Chinese Diner Aiya**

* * *

Aika Nakamura tightened the apron around her back for the umpteenth time this evening, the girl had just finished her third delivery over the past hour, tallying it up to a total of twelve deliveries for the day. The sun'd already plunged over the horizon, replacing the orange skies with a darkened view of star-less skies. The cloudy weather was surely subduing the overall brightness of the town of Inaba, were it not for the occasional lamp posts dotting the streets, and the lights from the residential buildings (as well as the rather suspicious purple lights coming from the Shiroku store beside Aiya's), the Central Shopping District would've been as good as being shrouded in darkness.

Setting down her helmet by the handle of the family's delivery moped, she breathed a sigh, a one of weariness for the sharp-eared. Balancing her own work-life-school balance was getting pretty challenging the more she grew up. The then girl pushed the delivery vehicle to the parking spot right outside the door of the diner, finishing her delivery for the night as the diner was close to closing hours anyway. Aika opened the door to her family home and business, the Chinese Diner Aiya to help her father cleaning up the shop.

...Only to find that the establishment still has patrons, even though only a couple. Aika could feel her eyebrows rising slightly, usually due to her long, and often frequent deliveries, the diner would usually already be devoid of guests, reason being by dinner hours, families often ordered deliveries from the comfort of their own homes rather than going through the trouble of visiting the diner anyway. That, or they would just opt to go to the town's only department store, Junes, to shop for some ready-to-eat side dishes.

Aika's dark amber eyes caught an eyeful of gray hair and a figure wearing the signature Yasogami High uniform sitting by the counter, quietly enjoying her father's-made beef bowl. It was none other than Yuu Narukami, the transfer student that'd arrived to study on Yasogami about a month or two back in April. That and another person sitting on one of the long chairs provided by the diner, enjoying the house ramen. The girl decided to quietly slip past through the guests, while uncommon, it wasn't rare for the diner to have patrons still spending time on the eatery. It's usually late-night-shift workers on their break, college students on their way home, or the more common regulars who'd come to appreciate the packed dishes of the diner. More often times than not, though, Yuu would bring one or more of his friends to eat at Aiya's.

"Ah, you're back," Aika's ears perked up as she entered the kitchen area, catching the view of her father greeting her with a smile. "Done with the delivery already?"

The girl only gave a neutral nod as a response, her father crossed his arms, looking rather satisfied.

"Hey, that's record time," He gave a jest in good humor to Aika with a light chuckle, receiving yet no response from his dull-faced daughter. "Oh, right, Narukami-kun, you not meet Aika yet, right?"

The customer sitting by the counter raised his head from the meal to give a nod to the restaurant owner. "Actually, I have met her times before," The gray-haired student perked his lips to form a respectful smile to the Chinese chef and his daughter. "Good evening to you too, Nakamura-san."

Aika nodded to the transfer student.

"Oh, really?" Aika's father looked rather surprised before blinking twice, as if suddenly realizing something. "Oh, right! You two go to same school together, yes?"

"Yes," Yuu nodded his head as a sign of confirmation. "Nakamura-san's class is right beside mine."

"I see, I see..." The chef of Aiya rubbed his chin. "Well, I hope you two get along! You hear that too, Aika? You know how fast time flies, better enjoy youth as much as you want while you still have time!"

Aika resisted the urge to roll her eyes, more in amusement rather than exasperation at her father's sagely remark. But she gave a slight audible hum noting her acknowledgement of the chef's opinion before deciding to tune out the rest of her father's conversation with the transfer student, and going to clean the dirty dishes left on the sink. One by one, every plate and bowl was slowly, but surely restored to their pristine condition after a few minutes of work, thanks to her deft hands.

After a while and with the last of the dishes placed back on the cabinet, Aika turned her head over her shoulder to see Yuu clapping his hands together and bowing slightly before his finished meal, and the other guest already gone. It seemed like even with her speed, some time'd passed already.

"Thank you for the meal," The gray-haired smiled contently as he placed his chopsticks by the now-empty beef bowl. And for a split second, Aika could even see his face contorted to one displaying... pride, for some reason? That expression vanished as quickly as it appeared, though, and the girl didn't heed much mind to it no further.

Hearing the boy, Aika's father peeked his head to the counter. "Aiyaah, thank you much!" He expressed his trademark awkwardly-spoken Japanese every time a patron finished their meal. "Did you enjoy the meal?" The adult questioned whilst rounding up the dishes left by the student.

Yuu nodded, still with that same little smile of his. "Yes, my compliments to the chef," He commented, before placing a hand over his stomach and tapping it lightly. "Not only that, but I also learned a deeper meaning in understanding... regarding my own limits. Yes, it is an invaluable lesson I'll never forget," He spoke in a wise tone.

This earned him a chuckle from the Chinese man. "Well, that'll be 800 yen, then."

"800 yen, right," Yuu mumbled to himself as he busied himself with his wallet to find the needed currencies for his meal. "Right... here they are..." He handed over the correct amount of money over the counter, whilst standing up to walk towards the door. "Well then, I'll be off now. Good evening, and right, evening to you too, Nakamura-san," He called out to the other kitchen hand from the door with his head turned over his shoulder.

Aika joined her father to see their final patron off, replying him with a practiced: "Please come again!", with Aika's farewell being much less enthusiastic compared to her father's.

Closing the door behind his back, Aika then strolled over to the door to flip the sign and lock the doors, finally signalling the diner's closure after a long day.

"Hmm..." Her father's sudden hum of curiosity made the Chinese-Japanese girl turn around to face him. The man was staring at the money Yuu'd just gave them for their services. "I was wondering... how did he get this much money to pay for food?"

Despite her neutral expression, that made Aika's mind internally question it too, actually. Sure, the boy was from the city, and that may be a factor of his rather bloated allowance. But Yuu Narukami'd become an esteemed regular at Aiya's by just a matter of weeks, he'd usually stop there for quick dinners, and even late night suppers such as recently. The young man was also no stranger to the rainy-day special Mega Beef Bowl challenge, regardless of the results. He's never won the challenge, but kept coming back for more, and for the record, she DID saw an improvement with every entry he's taken. Still, with every loss, he has to pay 3000 yen for the dish, and that is quite the hefty price for a single-seating meal. That's not including his regular visits to the diner such as his recent desire for the restaurant's beef-bowl.

Not only that, but during her deliveries, she could sometimes see the transfer student walking in and out of Daidara's Metalworks with a bunch of tools and contraptions, browsing the Yomenaido and coming out with dozens of books, always carrying a handful of groceries from Shiroku, and was also often seen going to the Tatsuhime Shrine, only to walk out, mysteriously carrying a bunch of "medicinal herbs" of sorts she'd never seen before. Either way, those things costs a lot, and she means, A LOT of money.

But alas, it was none of her business.

Aika shrugged neutrally at her father's question. "Who knows? Last I hear he works part-time, though," She finally gave an honest, verbal answer after her usual long silence.

"But do working part-time get you much money for food? Even in Inaba, things are expensive," Her father tried to argue, his eyebrows furrowed slightly, but eventually he also gave up on the idea as his expression deflated and he put the money inside the register. "Eh, he looks like a good boy, won't do anything bad."

That, Aika could agree on, at least. To her, Yuu seemed to be a pretty decent man, even with the whole "coming from the big city" thing, he's still a pretty humble guy, to the point of it's easy for him to blend in with the background. He's never really stood out at school despite the still hot gossip surrounding him and the city he came from. And it came pretty surprising for her, considering his somewhat fleeting presence, he was known to take active parts in both intra and extracurricular activities. He'd join clubs, take on jobs, basically anything to keep himself busy, something that amazed even the usually stoic delivery girl.

Not to mention, it'd be a lie to say he's pretty attractive too. That, at least seems to be the collective conclusion for most female students at Yasogami, so Aika's not alone on that matter.

"Aika, can you help with dishes?" Her father's voice once again snapped Aika out of her train of thought. "I'll deal with the garbage," The adult said as he hoisted a handful of rubbish already packed neatly in a black plastic bag and carrying them to the back door.

Aika simply nodded, and moved over to pick up the patron's last dishes already rounded up by her father and carried them over to the cleaning station, once again letting her skillful hands to work on the plates and bowls. At this, she didn't know why, but she couldn't stop herself from thinking about herself and the the coming years, about her education, career, and of course, life as an adult. Aika sighed to herself once again, letting her mind wander free once more.

Maybe going to a university and getting a decent job would be nice...

She was going to continue with her daydream until the diner's phone suddenly rang, causing the girl to jolt in surprise and berate herself for her tendencies to space out. She looked to the clock to see that it was already late into the night, and her eyebrows rose at the questionable phone call at that hour. Nevertheless, with the absence of her father, she dried both of her hands and walked to the phone to pick it up, even with slight exasperation due to the time... and her need for sleep.

The bluenette shook the negativity out of her head. Maybe it's just someone else, getting mixed over the Nakamura household's phone number and their diner's number.

"Evening, Nakamura Residence," Aika greeted expressionlessly to the one on the other end.

"Ah, right, Chinese Diner Aiya, right?" The voice replied, sounding a bit dazed. "Um, I'm sorry, is the diner's delivery still up?"

Aika finally rolled her eyes.

Well, just another night at Aiya's.

* * *

 **Just Another Night at Aiya's**

 **A Persona 4 Work of Fiction**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

YES, HER DAD'S BROKEN ENGLISH (or Japanese?) IS ON PURPOSE.

Aika is an under-rated character, and I think there's no work featuring her, so I want to flesh her out.

This is a slice-of-life work, so we won't be seeing much of Persona's supernatural parts in here. Just a story of a girl's daily life whilst working in her a family-run restaurant. I haven't got any plans on whether I should develop this story as. Probably as a collection of short random one-shots featuring Aika, maybe a chapter-based progression kind-of story? I don't know. I honestly didn't think of anything While I typed this chapter down on my laptop at 1AM in the morning.

Well. Hope you enjoyed. I apologize for any mistakes I've made or if I didn't do Aika enough justice.

Traesto.


	2. Chie Satonaka

**JULY XX, 2011**

 **Evening - RAINING**

 **Central Shopping District - Chinese Diner Aiya**

* * *

Every customer is pretty unique. That's what Aika caught on after years of serving in the diner, at least. But she's never really met anyone as "unique", yes, with the quotations, as Chie Satonaka. A classmate of Yuu Narukami at Class 2-2 at Yasogami, a cheery, bubbly kind of girl who seems to have this huge, _HUGE_ , appetite for meat. Even as the daughter of practically the most successful diner in town, Aika was still quite strict on her own diet, hence her frequent delivery runs to keep herself in shape.

But Chie... that woman was on a whole new level.

She couldn't quite get the idea down on why the meat junkie kept an ideal posture despite her carnivorous nature. She did usually see her practicing her martial arts by the Samegawa, and most of the time, but still, after that she would always, ALWAYS order at least two servings of the diner's nikudon. The girl was also a huge fan of steak, and would not worry herself with any trifles once she reached an appropriate stand for such delicacy. And luckily for her, Inaba was quite famous for their steak, let it be the more Western ones at Junes, or the more traditional home-cooked steak croquettes by Souzai Daigaku, and it was all a welcome sight for both her eyes, and her taste buds.

Speaking of which, the girl in question was sitting by the counter, chowing down on the diner's nikudon, with no care in the world, not even noticing the amount of attention she was gathering to herself by the other patrons due to her ravenous pace. Surprisingly for Aika though, the girl has never once attempted the Mega Beef Bowl challenge over at Aiya's. She would come almost everyday to the premises only to enjoy about two servings of their nikudon, maybe sometimes with a tofu as her side dish, or other times just a plain bowl of ramen when she's on a budget.

"Hey, Aika," The short-haired teen raised her hands to call out to the other girl on the kitchen. "Uh, mind placing an order for another bowl? I think I'll be in here for a while."

Aika responded to her calls by heeding towards her father. "Dad, another bowl of nikudon, please."

"Aiyaah, coming right up!" The chef at the back who was still in the process of making another meal for the other patrons of the diner, but nevertheless complied to the request.

Unlike most days, the diner that day was quite packed with guests, most probably due to the unfriendly weather. During the rain, Aiya's delivery services are deactivated, and Aika was usually stationed back at the diner to help with the Mega Beef Bowl challenge. People would just come to the place directly instead of ordering, hence, increasing the population of the patrons. Aika herself was still busy tending to the other guests' needs, like refilling water, helping with the other side dishes and condiments, and would only leave the kitchen to deliver orders.

Chie, without cue, softly slammed the empty bowl of nikudon she'd just had with a happy sigh. "Ahhh, nothing like a big meal after training," She said to no one in particular.

"You trained in the rain?" Aika, however decided to reply to her friend with an honest question through her business.

"Nah, 'course not, it only started to rain after I finished with the training, so I decided to stop by your place," The meat junkie rubbed her nose. "Ugh, weather's been kinda weird the past few days, though."

Aika hummed, keeping her face neutral. "Need some warm water?"

Chie nodded, giving a light blow to her nose to the tissue she'd been holding, with an apologetic smile. "Yeah, please do, if that's not a hassle. Thanks, Aika."

The bluenette simply nodded plainly before retreating to the kitchen to check the boiling water within the kettle the diner would usually use to make warm glasses of tea. The moment she poured the water from the kettle, Chie's meal has also finished its cooking process, and her father handed the bowl to her. Aika shrugged, two birds in one stone. She then placed both treats at the counter before Chie, and despite her somewhat under-the-weather look, she quickly grabbed her utensils, ready to devour another nikudon.

"Nice, thanks a lot, Aika!" With a grin, she once again dug into the bowl in a rather speedy pace.

Aika left the girl alone to her business, but she still quietly observed how the girl enjoyed her second serving of meat and rice. Being honest to herself, Aika did feel a little jealous of her classmate, only a tad bit, though. To her, Chie has quite the amount of skills and the privilege to develop them even further. Good at martial arts, and the free time to train herself, all the while keeping her body in shape even with her large appetite for fat, juicy food. Given time, and the effort, Aika could see her winning competitions left and right in the near future. Of course, she would always wish the best to happen to her friends, but again, comparing herself to munching customer, the bluenette couldn't help but to think about her own life.

School, work, sleep. Basically, those are the three daily routines of the only child of the Nakamura family.

Would it be nice if she could take a break once in a while...

And it was not long before Chie let out a small sneeze, snapping her out of her thoughts, Aika sighed to herself for letting her mind wander elsewhere during work and thus, the sneeze prompted action from the delivery girl, who lightly trotted to the counter to replace the emptying tissue box with fresh sheets, and taking the liberty to refill Chie's already empty glass of water with another serving of warm liquid whilst her classmate was still busy drying her runny nose by blowing hard into the tissues.

Chie once again gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry, caused quite a bit of commotion, didn't I?"

Aika gave another shrug. "It happens, don't worry. More importantly, are you feeling alright, Satonaka-san? We have a few medicine if you want some."

"No, no, no! That's fine! I think it's just the weather getting to me, you know, it's been sunny-rainy, and then back to sunny again in a matter of hours. And oh yeah, I have some cold medicine back at home too! Thanks for the offer, though!" Chie quickly waved her hand to respectfully reject the offer.

Aika hummed, expression not changing, despite a single raised eyebrow was evident. "Hmm. Have you been staying up late then?"

"Huh?" The martial artist cocked her head slightly at the question. It was a rare sight, to see being Aika so inquisitive for once.

"To watch that... Midnight Channel thingy?" Aika continued, her amber eyes watching Chie analytically to see if there were other visible symptoms. "You used to be going on and on about it. Have you been marathoning the show?"

At this, Chie shifted uneasily on her seat. "W-well, not necessarily... why, you've been watching it too, Aika?"

The bluenette shook her head, much to the relieve of the meat junkie. "No, I haven't got the time. But, so it's true then that there's an active stream going on?"

"Well... kinda, I guess?" Chie sounded unsure to herself, once again looking like she's on edge about something. "Nah... it's not about that, while it's true I've been staying up late it's usually me doing... uhh..." There was a long silence, as if the girl was searching for an excuse. "Uh... working out! Yeah, that's it! That's why I get tired easily, combine that with the weather, and you've got yourself a deadly combo, am I right, haha...ha..." Her laugh was strained and forced, basically it was obvious that she was hiding something from the delivery girl.

Aika was perceptive, but she knew her boundaries and the fact she shouldn't press her friend for too much information. The poor girl was already sick anyway.

"Alright, I suppose," And Aika decided to settle with that calm response after her own silence. "Just be sure to sleep early when you get the chance, we've got that geography quiz the day after tomorrow right?"

Chie could visibly sigh, reasons unknown, but then also proceeded the drop her head tiredly to the counter. "Argh, you don't have to remind me about that..." She groaned, voice sounding desperate. "I still haven't reviewed any of the materials yet..." She kept her complains mostly to herself and continued to drone on her own, until she decided to check her smartphone, to see that it was already late. "Ah crap, it's already this late?" She talked to herself, scratching her short hair out of frustration. "Hey, Aika!"

Aika heeded the call by peeking her head out of the counter.

"Here, 1600 yen right?" Chie handed over the money and quickly stood up. "I need to get going, later, Aika, ah, you too, Nakamura-san! Thanks for everything!"

The bluenette noticed something, and she decided to call for Chie's attention with a: "Satonaka-san, wait."

"Huh?" Chie looked back over her shoulder with a hand already mid way sliding the door open, she found herself then staring at the delivery girl handing her something. "An umbrella?" She asked aloud.

"You forgot yours, right? I didn't see you bringing anything to the diner back then," Aika queried plainly, gesturing the martial artist to take the item, to which she did. "Here, you can borrow mine. Don't want you to get sick before the quiz."

To say Chie was astonished would be an understatement. "Wow, Aika... this, this is... wow..." Even the usually bubbly girl was speechless for once. "I didn't know you were so assertive!" She exclaimed truthfully.

And in turn, Aika's eyebrows rose, more in surprise, however rather than anything else. "...Assertive?"

"I-I meant that in a good way, of course!" Chie hastily added, fearing that her words might hurt the other young woman. "Like... you're not afraid to express things and act accordingly and stuff!"

Something about her words made Aika's mind spun around with numerous questions. Surely, what she did was of strict, pure business. She was just doing her job and making sure that the diner's patrons were well served and left satisfied of her services. Heck, instead she only felt like she was pushing her limits too far on one of her own friends. She DID ask her a lot of questions that ultimately put Chie in a rather uncomfortable spot. Aika gulped silently, feeling a tad bit guilty if that was truly the case.

"...man, I'm kinda jealous of you now," The word that just left Chie's mouth brought Aika of her thoughts with a shock. "The way you do things here, I wish I can be more like you, y'know?" She stated with a carefree smile.

Make no mistake, Aika was no stranger to getting praised at, or being given compliments from her patrons, but that was mostly because of her delivery services or purely because of the food. To hear a compliment directed directly to her personally, was rather new, and that was coming from the classmate that Aika herself was jealous of. And such, she couldn't stop her eyes from widening ever so slightly, as well as the small amount of heat that managed to creep up to her face. Unconsciously, she broke eye contact and felt like the floor suddenly got very interesting to stare at. She wondered if Chie noticed her sudden change of behavior, and if there was any pink tinge on her cheek at that time.

"So..." Chie trailed off, catching Aika's attention back to school. "See you at school tomorrow, then?" With a motion, she opened the umbrella and stepped to the chilly outside world. "Thanks for the umbrella, though, I'll be sure to return it to you next thing in the morning!"

"A-ah, right," That was the first time Aika stuttered in like... well, forever. "Be careful on the way home, Satonaka-san."

Once the door was closed once again, Aika slowly realized that her chest was slightly pounding even harder, but in a good way.

Aika was happy for once.

"Aika, why you standing at the door? We still have customers!" Her father's voice brought Aika back to reality.

After scolding herself once more for letting her thoughts get the best of her, Aika just jogged to the kitchen with a: "Ah, coming dad."

Well, just another night at Aiya's.

* * *

 **Just Another Night at Aiya's - 02**

 **A Persona 4 Work of Fiction**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

What? Aika is a human being too. I'm pretty sure she can think, feel, and do everything else or what not like me and you. And I did say I want to try and flesh her out a bit more in this story, so I was thinking that I should maybe give her a bit more personality in this story, rather than your usual neutral-faced girl we always see on the anime. To me, at least, I'd like to think that while quiet, Aika is quite the thinker that sometimes, may be just a bit too self-conscious of herself.

I'm not sure if this kind of trope I use didn't do her enough justice, though. Maybe think of it as a cross between the Dub-Aika and Sub-Aika. Sub-Aika is the epitome of being a girl with minimal emotions, whilst the Dub-Aika seems to be much more expressive based on the way she spoke. So a flat-faced, but deep-inside quite the assertive one kinda thing? Either way, I'll be using this character trait for Aika. Love it, hate it, I'll still use it, unless maybe it's too character-breaking, then I'll stop.

Oh yeah, and for now, the one format that keeps popping up in my mind that I would do this like a "character-based" story, with each chapter focusing on Aika's interactions with different casts of the game. Although, I may use an original character here and there just to keep the buyer-seller interaction interesting and not limited to what we've got from the game. So long story short, this story does not have a chronological order in particular. The date used in this story doesn't serve much purpose. Who knows, next chapter might jump to 2020, or maybe even start off at 2007 instead.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry if I made some mistakes, or I didn't do her enough justice.

Traesto.


	3. Yosuke Hanamura

**AUGUST XX, 2011**

 **Evening - SUNNY**

 **Junes Department Store - Grocery Aisle**

* * *

It was yet another hectic day indeed at the Inaba's one-and-only department store, the Junes. In an efforts to attract incoming tourists that'll be spending their time by the Tatsuhime Shrine on the Summer Festival just a few more days from now, the store has been pushing off sales and promotions, cutting off prices in an inviting discount. Of course, this plan worked, and the number of visitors increased almost threefold compared to its usual routine. But still, with such a small staff roster, the shopping center was unable to keep up with the amount of individuals coming in.

And such, Aika Nakamura was one of the many people that the store manager's son, Yosuke Hanamura requested help from. To be frank at first she didn't expect that her help would be needed at Junes out of all places, seeing how the store had quite the controversy. It was the same store that basically ' _drove_ ' the Central Shopping District out of business, or so everyone said. But Aika wasn't one to judge, and considering Yosuke was practically begging for her assistance when he came over to the diner, she knew that the situation may be even more critical than she'd thought, and with little objections from her father despite some initial skepticism, he let her to help out at Junes, at the cost of losing the diner's delivery service, at least until the afternoon, for the bluenette had to be back for dinner's rush hour at her own restaurant.

Yosuke said that her work would be well compensated, though, and at least she was not alone for the few days she'd worked for the department store as a staff that handled stand-to-table deliveries as well as handling the logistics for the groceries, if she was feeling generous enough. She also saw several students from Yasogami giving Yosuke their own help, let it be classmates, juniors, and even seniors. It was somewhat relieving to see some familiar faces every once in a while after serving countless individuals through the blistering summer heat.

And boy, was IT tiring.

Even with her unusually high vitality to go on long hours of work, Aika was still drained after days of nonstop work between Junes and the diner, all the while being pounded by the constant blaze of the sun, and she usually had little breaks in between shifts. Fortunately for her, her shift had ended early that day for the Junes, and it wasn't exactly rush hour at the diner, so she took some liberty to browse the Junes's grocery section she'd been handling for the last couple of days, just as a customer this time. It was one of her rarer occasions to actually stop by Junes to do some shopping on her own.

The bluenette was quietly running her fingers through the items displayed on the shelf, deciding on which produce was the best one for her to buy. She silently admitted, despite all of the negative reputation the store'd collected from the locals for disrupting the business at the Shopping District, it was still convenient for everyone, and _especially_ for the consumers. Sure, the price of everything was a just little bit higher than the ones anyone would find on traditional markets, but they did their quality checks, and Aika was impressed over their products.

"Oh hey, it's Aika-san!" She heard a familiar voice sounding off from behind her. Turning around, she saw none other than the boy who'd called for her help about a few days ago.

"Hanamura-san, evening," Aika spoke the name of her classmate aloud, slightly bowing her head to greet the other sophomore of Yasogami.

Yosuke approached the bluenette, apparently curious. "Surprised to see you're still here, didn't you say you're supposed to be helping at the diner after you're done here?"

"It's not the time yet," Her answer came in short and simple, just like usual. "What are you doing at the groceries' deparment, Hanamura-san? I thought you're assigned to look after the food court."

"My shift's done too, the food court manager said that he'll handle the rest, so I decided to check down here, see if everything's alright," The boy answered with a tired but nevertheless, natural smile Aika always thought to be contagious. She noticed his eyes were directed to the basket she's carrying though. Inside, there were assortment of ingredients and such. "Whoa, buying supplies for the diner, eh?"

Aika's head shook a no. "...Not exactly," She replied following the trail of the young man's eyes to the contents inside her basket. "It's mostly for dinner... or maybe supper back home."

Yosuke audibly hummed a tune. "Oh, I get it, yeah. Nothing's as good as mom's home-cooked meal after a hard day's work ain't it?" He grinned.

The bluenette was silent for a couple of seconds. "...Right, of course."

"...I-I'm sorry, did I say anything wrong?" Yosuke was quick to catch on Aika's momentary stillness.

"No, no. It's alright," Aika reassured with a plain nod. "It's just that... my mom's not exactly here with us anymore."

The son of the Junes's manager looked physically hurt, as if he'd just been punched in the gut. "Oh... right... I-I'm sorry. I didn't know."

The Chinese-Japanese shook her own head. "No, I should be the one saying sorry. It wasn't my intention to suddenly just..." She trailed off, feeling somewhat guilty herself for bringing the mood down.

"But hey, enough of that," Yosuke regained his smile as he tried to change the subject. "Who's gonna be cooking then? Your dad?"

Aika was also quick to dismiss her previous solemn thoughts. "No. I just want to experiment with something new back at home."

"Nice..." The male's arms were crossed, yet his shoulders were no longer stiff. To prove his point, his head was also nodding in approval. "I guess that's expected from the daughter of one of the... the ONLY Chinese diner in town, huh? I'm impressed."

"It's just broth for our house ramen, though, nothing fancy," She explained with a shrug.

"Yeah but still, coming from you at least it'll be a hundred times better than the Mystery Food X..." Yosuke's facial expression slightly darkened when the last part of his sentence left his mouth.

Aika wondered for some time, for her ears was quite familiar with the word. Then her memory clicked. She remembered that Yosuke would use that phrase more than a few times ever since that certain incident happened during the camping trip. It was first used to describe a... **_substance_ **that was the byproduct of her other classmates' cooking which resulted in food poisoning to both Yosuke and Yuu Narukami. While not having photographic memory, it would take years for the bluenette to forget the look of genuine horror and disgust when Yosuke described the... **_liquid matter_** that was supposed to be curry. Even the usually composed Yuu himself was hesitant to describe the... **_toxic material_** when he was asked.

It went on so far that they even ordered for some of Aiya's food to the mountains. The memories of herself, sneaking through numerous watchful teachers in order to deliver the diner's nikudon to her starving friends in broad daylight was still fresh. Looking back, even Aika herself was amused at the fact that they didn't get busted for ordering food. It was... fun, exciting, even. It was only with Yuu and his friends Aika would receive the most absurd of orders ( _usually it's just the location that's absurd, but still_ ), but she enjoyed every bit of her delivery if it was for her friends.

The one other thing Aika noticed was the fact that she was indeed conversing with the son of the manager of Junes. In any other case, this would usually be normal, but this was Inaba, and she knew well that the some of the locals, especially the ones from the Shopping District hated Junes and anyone who basically has a connection with it, with a passion. Any interaction with anyone from Junes would usually be frowned upon, and be downright disapproved by some people.

Back during April, even Aika knew something was wrong with Saki Konishi, Yosuke's late senpai who met her untimely death as one of the mysterious murder victims. It was all just rumors and most of them baseless, but they usually had this one similar pattern among one another. It was that Saki Konishi was hated for quote-unquote 'betraying' her family by becoming an employee at Junes, even if it was just part-time. That was the level of animosity the public had towards the department store.

And Yosuke took the brunt of it all. From the surface, Aika could've just dismissed him as one of the more cheerier guys around over at Yasogami, but all things considered, with all of the challenges he had to face, all the while keeping his contagious smile and humility towards others, even he himself came from the big city, she would say that he's a pretty cool dude after all. Maybe even almost... admirable. In fact, she felt like she could learn a thing or two from Yosuke and his communication skills with others.

Aika knew well enough that her own social skill wasn't exactly... optimal.

"...right, Aika-san?" The voice of Yosuke caught her off guard.

The bluenette wondered how long she'd been consumed by her own thoughts, for before her amber eyes, she saw another male standing right beside Yosuke. He looked like he was their age, but he wasn't exactly tall, per say. The thing that stood out from him the most was his blonde hair. **_Blonde hair_**. He... at least he looked Japanese. But blonde hair and blue eyes for a Japanese? His clothing was pretty exquisite as well, if Aika could speak her thoughts aloud. A shirt with a seemingly un-wilting red rose by his left breast pocket, everything about this boy screamed elegance. Yet, he didn't look completely masculine either. There was this feminine touch to his build that Aika could not exactly pin point.

There was silence as Aika's dark colored eyes analyzed the newcomer, and this blonde seemed to return her gaze with a hopeful look for some reason.

"I'm... I'm sorry, but who are you again?" Aika truthfully questioned to the other male in the vicinity, even looking a little bit lost.

That question seemed to strike something within that boy, as his face paled and his body limped somewhat. All the while, Yosuke was grinning smugly.

"See, Teddie? I told you she wasn't interested!" The Junes junior manager rubbed his temple in exasperation. "Besides, Aika-san right here needs to go back to her place like... right now!"

"B-but Yosuke... you also promised me about the hot stud when I offered to help...!" The blonde-haired boy, now slumped in defeat tried pathetically to produce an argument, but failed anyway, and was ignored by Aika's classmate.

 _Teddie_? That's quite the name. Aika internally dismissed the thought, thinking that it was a moniker instead.

"Oh yeah, about today's payment, sorry I forgot to hand this to you back at the food court," Yosuke produced a slightly thick brown envelope from his apron's pocket and handed it over to the delivery girl. She accepted it with her free hand that wasn't holding the basket. "Oh, and I'll pay for the groceries also, come on, the cashier right at Aisle 13 is usually not crowded right now."

"Ah... Hanamura-san, please, it's alright, I can pay for these myself-" Aika was cut off from her protest when Yosuke's open palm stopped her words.

When he lowered his hand, Aika could see the young man's usual smile on his face. "Relax, I've called in too many favors from you recently, and besides, today's sale was a huge success thanks to you guys! I've yet to give everyone their bonus, so think of this as my extra payment for you. And, by helping you, I'm doing my part to help this world from seeing the return of Mystery Food X!" He gulped once before continuing. "...Everyone's gotta do their part..."

The bluenette was at a loss for words as she found herself being dragged across the storefront to the appointed cashier, and could only watch as her groceries were paid in full by the junior manager, who even sent her off the department stores with good wishes, and expressing his hopes that she would come along to the Summer Festival with him, Yuu, Chie and the others.

Yosuke Hanamura, even being the son of the most hated manager in town, the guy was certainly cool on Aika's books.

Well, now back to just your usual night at Aiya's. Surely her father was already waiting for her, anyway.

At least, Aika took her moped home in a good mood for once, and check for her yukata at the wardrobe.

* * *

 **Just Another Night at Aiya's - 03**

 **A Persona 4 Work of Fiction**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

Got nothing of note to say to you guys.

Sorry if I made any mistakes, or if I didn't do her enough justice.

Traesto.


	4. Nanako Dojima

**FEBRUARY XX, 2012**

 **Daytime - RAINING**

 **Samegawa Flood Plains**

* * *

Aika Nakamura didn't expect the weather would turn out for the worst during the duration of her short trip to Junes. She was quite positive that the weather report for the day was supposed to be sunny, maybe with a little snowfall here and there. While she did saw the sun disappearing behind the thick cumulonimbus when she left the diner, she wasn't prepared much for the light thunderstorm that suddenly invaded the region. Fortunately she'd brought her umbrella with her to help shield her from the rain, but the wind wasn't exactly helping her with her return trip.

How was it even possible for it to rain in the middle of the winter season? That, she could never answer. Although she did hear from various news that ' _winter showers_ ', while rare, is a possible phenomenon that could still occur. And Inaba was no stranger to uncommon weather phenomenon for years. The most recent one was during November to about December last year, maybe before Christmas. Inaba was shrouded in constant fog, so thick, that no one noticed that it'd already began snowing on some regions of the town.

The floodplains were basically devoid of soul, even the usual birds, critters, dogs or cats were nowhere to be seen due to the sudden rain. The booming sounds of thunder could be heard as they struck nearby locations with their blast, and the combination of hard rain and high-speed winds made the visibility poor for anyone who dared to venture out from their homes. Aika was lucky that the diner closed up shop earlier that day due to sudden influx of patrons in the holiday seasons, so her delivery services wasn't needed as much when the sun finally set.

It was supposed to be a simple trip to buy some ingredients for the store from Junes, but she was glad she didn't take her moped with her that day, else it would've ended even worse, since she wasn't exactly skilled enough to drive with one hand holding an umbrella. The motor vehicle wasn't exactly gassed up anyway after her delivery earlier, and buses were rare during the holiday, since most of the drivers usually also took the day off, so the bluenette decided that it was best for her to walk from the Shopping District altogether.

She was feeling regretful to a certain degree, though. For it was also her decision to skip the bus, thinking that it would take too long for her to go home before nightfall.

But in the end, she had to push her way through the rain anyway.

The bluenette's body was slightly damp due to the winds, carrying the rainwater with them to hit upon her despite the protection provided by the umbrella. The girl sighed internally, she would have to take another bath at home, and maybe a cold medicine as a precaution. It was still winter after all, and even with an outer layer of jacket, with a combination of the cold wind, freezing rainwater, and the overall still chilly atmosphere of the town, she wouldn't be surprised if her nose get clogged by the next hour or two.

At least, she was already nearing the Shopping District once more, going past the park by the riverbank with the gazebo, it was then the South road of the District that's also her home.

Speaking of the gazebo, Aika thought her eyes caught something, or rather someone, sitting on the bench beneath the gazebo, using the structure as a safe haven from all the raindrops. She noticed that the individual was pretty short, probably no more than a child. A brown hair tied to two low pigtails with pink ribbons, with cream turtleneck sweater underneath a multi-color dress. The bluenette could swore she'd seen her before, or at least, mentioned several times by someone.

It was Nanako Dojima, Yuu Narukami's younger cousin, and a member of the Dojima family which he was staying with.

Aika questioned why the young girl was alone during the rain. In the rather unfriendly weather, it could be dangerous for a child to be wandering around. It was no stranger for the classmates of Yuu Narukami to the news that his cousin was hospitalized for a few months during the waning months of the year before, back when a strange fog clouded the region. She'd never seen the gray-haired student so devastated before, probably her hospitalization hit him hard in more ways than one. Still, while Aika heard that Nanako'd been discharged, she thought that the Dojima wasn't exactly healed up just yet. All the more reason for the bluenette to worry for the health and safety of the brunette.

So, against her own judgement, the delivery girl's legs autonomously moved on their own to approach the gazebo Nanako was taking shelter on. At first the young Dojima didn't seem to take notice at Aika's approach, as the girl simply continued sitting with her legs swaying ever so slightly for every few seconds. If Aika had to guess, she deducted that it was probably because of the amount of hail, water, and thunder, crashing all around them, masking the sound of her own footsteps.

It was not until Aika was only a couple of meters away that Nanako realized there was another person by the premises. She spun her head around to look over her shoulder and saw her.

Aika's first reaction was to give a wave. "Good evening, Nanako-chan," Her edges of her lips were tugged upwards, forming a small smile to greet the young Dojima, although it wasn't exactly her intention.

Nanako eyed the young woman carefully, before returning it with a cautious nod. "...Good evening," Her voice was reserved and polite.

Aika knew that the brunette wasn't exactly on familiar terms with her, so her reaction was quite expected. "Ah, I'm sorry. I'm sure you haven't heard of me?" Once the delivery girl was within the sheltering roof of the gazebo, she closed her own umbrella and placed it on the table. She then proceeded to sit on the opposite side of the young Dojima. Responding to this, Nanako fully turned her body around to face her. "I'm Aika Nakamura, a classmate of your cousin, Yuu Narukami. It's really nice to finally meet you in person, Nanako-chan."

"You're... big bro's classmate?" Nanako repeated her statement with a questioning tone. After blinking twice, she then let out an elongated "Ooohhh..." before continuing. "Right, big bro told me about you once!" Replacing her neutral, if not wary expression, it was Nanako's turn to smile. "He said you make some really good food at restaurants!"

"I wouldn't exactly say I make ' _really good food_ ', but that was nice of him to say," Aika responded, still smiling at the younger Dojima's innocence. Even while still recovering, her energetic mood's more similar to Yosuke's. It was contagious.

The time it took for the girl to lose her caution was relatively quick. A trait that could be a double-edged sword combined with her innocence. Aika could finally empathize with Yuu and his feelings when the news came in that Nanako was kidnapped last year. Still, as a whole, it was surprising that Yuu even had a thing or two say about her, and Aika wouldn't deny that she felt just a tad bit embarrassed when Nanako just complimented her right out of the blue.

Still, ' _big bro_ '. She knew that Yuu's relationship with his cousin was pretty close, but the way Nanako just blurted the term so casually, and so happily just tugged Aika at her heart strings. She couldn't stop the smile from disappearing from her face, though it did get smaller as time progressed. One more reason to miss the transfer student when he goes back next month. Who knew the quiet one at school would leave so many meaningful impact to those around him.

"Anyway, what are you doing here, Nanako-chan?" Aika tried shooting another question to the Dojima. "It's almost nightfall, but you're still outside?"

Nanako gave a single nod. "Oh, I was on my way back home from Takumi-kun's; my friend's house. I was lending him my notebook, and I left in a hurry because it's already cloudy outside. But I didn't know it was going to rain on the way back home, so I decided to stop here to wait out the rain."

Aika nodded back to the girl. A reasonable answer. "I see. But does your family know about this?"

This time Nanako shook her head. "No... not really. Big bro usually comes home during the evening, and dad's usually even later to the night. I did leave a note back at home, though."

The bluenette rested her arms on the table. Part of her was impressed at Nanako's independence. "Still... they should at least know you're here..." She mumbled to herself, but loud enough for the Dojima to hear. "Want me to call your family, just in case? Maybe they can pick you up. The weather's no good for a walk."

"Ah, right... if that doesn't trouble you..." Nanako was rather hesitant, but Aika knew that a girl at her age probably wouldn't have a cellphone just yet.

Aika quickly pulled out her cellphone, only to find that there was no service available. Feeling rather dejected, she placed the phone back to her pocket. "...Sorry, the signal's dead on my phone, it's probably because of the weather."

"It's okay," Nanako, feeling the downcast mood of the delivery girl, despite her neutral face that acted as a mask defused the situation with her own smile. "I'm sure big bro would pass by here sooner or later, he usually walks over here with his friends."

True enough, Aika did saw Yuu strolling down the flood plains during one of her many deliveries, often times with people. Sometimes it was with Chie, helping the girl's training at martial arts, other times it was with Yukiko Amagi, with the two quietly chatting as they walked home from school together. Sometimes, it's with a junior, if she's not mistaken, her name's Ayane Matsunaga, a member of the band class, as he helped her with her trombone. Even she once saw the transfer student chatting idly with the rather scary-looking Kanji Tatsumi, the first year once thought to be a member of a biker gang.

"What are you doing here, then?" It was Nanako's turn to satiate her curiosity. But it wasn't long before she noticed the plastic bag Aika'd settled beside her had the Junes logo printed on it. "Oh wow! You're from Junes?"

Aika simply nodded. "Yes, I bought some things there," For the record, she was slightly quizzed at Nanako's excitement when she saw Junes. Usually the first reaction people, especially the locals, had to the department store was either a repulsive insult at worst, or a condescending look at best. "Do you go to Junes a lot, Nanako-chan?"

"No, I just go there when dad's around," Nanako kept eyeing the bag, a big, innocent smile was seen and was only getting bigger. "But Junes's the best!" She declared proudly, even puffing her chest as she said so. " _Everyday's great at your Junes!_ " She sung the tune of the catchy store jingle.

Something inside Aika melted. She had to try her best from joining in with Nanako's cheery attitude, but alas, she settled in for a light, quiet giggle. She couldn't fathom the young Dojima's love for Junes came from, because for everyone else, it was simply just a department store. Sure, it was the only one at Inaba, but people would think that the place was either a curse or simply a convenient place to go to. Aika's mind simply thought that it was probably only because of Nanako's innocence, and Junes's large and impressive look caught the eye, and the heart of the young one.

"What did you buy, then?" The Dojima questioned again. For the record, Aika was surprised that a child at her age, especially when she's in love with the store didn't just downright skip the formalities and just take a peek on the bag, maybe even ransack a thing or two.

And for that, the bluenette was glad for Nanako's maturity. "Ah... these are just ingredients. It's for dinner back home."

"Wow, do you cook everything then at your restaurant?" The brunette was sounding even more impressed.

"Technically, it's only a small family diner," Aika corrected with a small smile, she meant no harm at Nanako's false perception of the diner. "And no, it's usually my dad who's cooking, I only occasionally help him at the kitchen when things are getting out of hand. I mostly help with deliveries."

And Nanako indeed took no harm from being corrected. "Wow, that's really cool! I also heard from big bro that you always ride a motorcycle around during deliveries!"

"Ah, no. It's only the family's old moped," Noticing the suddenly confused look from the Dojima, Aika quickly added. "Moped is... some kind of a... motorized bicycle, I think? It's more of a scooter than anything else, though," With that, Nanako seemed satisfied of her explanation. "What about your family, Nanako-chan? Who's usually cooking?"

"Because dad can't cook, and I don't know much about cooking myself, we usually buy dinner, but sometimes, big bro and his friends come over to cook dinner for us!" Nanako smiled at the last part. "And big bro's cooking is always yummy!"

Aika smiled faintly at the Dojima's admiration to her older cousin. From what she's spoken, the way she kept only mentioning her father aside from Yuu, and no one else, that would make it easy for the bluenette to assume that she was an only child of the family. And how she never mentioned the presence of a mother in the house, Aika's smile slightly dropped to form a sad one instead. Either it was a divorce, or her mother left her to a place she couldn't reach. She understood another reason why Yuu always had to come home early on some days. He wanted to take care of his cousin.

Part of Aika's mind pondered at her own similarities to the young Dojima. She's also an only child, and her mother met her unfortunate end at a young age, leaving her and her father alone. Maybe this was the source of their synergy between one another. But comparing herself to Nanako, Aika couldn't help but feel... small. For someone so young, Nanako was very strong. Despite her innocence, it was safe to say she has already matured. She's perceptive, assertive, and also good with people. It was admirable, and also rather the embarrassment for the bluenette to take notes from the younger girl in a thing or two.

"That's great, Nanako-chan," Aika nodded in approval at Nanako's story, not wanting to let her inner emotions be seen for a second time by the Dojima, she turned her head to face the streets outside the gazebo, to see that it was getting dark, as the street lights were already turned on. "Oh... it's already getting late..." She muttered, but the weather conditions, whilst improving somewhat, as the strong winds died down, and the thunders no longer crackled in the skies above, it was still rather unfriendly. "But it's still raining..."

"Oh, do you need to go home too?" Nanako was quick to catch on to see the minimal restlessness of the older girl. "It's okay, I'm fine waiting for the rain to die down myself," She announced with a small giggle.

"Ahh... that's right, you didn't bring your umbrella with you, huh...?" Aika finally noticed herself, with the Dojima's lack of belongings with her. The bluenette quickly rummaged through a brain for a possible solution for their predicament. "Why don't I escort you back to your home then?"

"Huh?" Nanako was surprised at the older girl's offer. "Is it... really okay? I really don't want to bother you or anything..."

Aika nodded, calmly smiling at the girl's rather stunned state. "My home should be on the way too, since I live in the Shopping District, so it's okay, I think your family must be worried too by now, so it's probably better for you to reach your house quickly," She stated, standing up and picking up her umbrella once more. "Now, mind showing me the way to your home, then, Nanako-chan?" With a nudge of her head, Nanako, who was still uncertain for a couple of seconds finally skipped over to join the older girl.

The walk to the Dojima household's neighborhood was mostly quiet, but Nanako would strike up a conversation with Aika once or twice. Mostly asking about her school life at Yasogami, and her own daily personal activities as the delivery girl of the Aiya. In turn, Aika would also ask a thing or two about her relationship with Yuu. Despite the chilly weather, the two managed to keep the atmosphere around them warm and lively with their talks. And the walk itself only lasted for several minutes until they finally arrived at a modest-sized house with a white SUV parked at the garage.

"Oh, we're here!" Nanako notified the bluenette. "And dad's already home!" She added that chirp, pointing towards said vehicle at the house's parkway.

Stopping right before the front door, Nanako jumped over to the porch with a canopy overhead to shield her from the rain, giving Aika her personal space back.

"Thank you for everything, Aika-chan!" Nanako happily waved. "Sorry for troubling you!"

Aika once again gave a nod to the Dojima, not minding the informal way the young one referred her name as. "It's no trouble, Nanako-chan, well, I'll see you later I'm sure," She waved back, took a few steps forward, before stopping to look back at the brunette one final time. "Oh, and feel free to stop by the diner sometime with your ' _big bro_ ', the first round is one me," Aika then added a: "But keep this just as our little secret, okay?" Her smile cannot be contained, Aika left the Dojima somehow feeling more refreshed than ever.

It was her time to spend just another night at Aiya's.

* * *

 **Just Another Night at Aiya's - 04**

 **A Persona 4 Work of Fiction**

* * *

The door slid open, revealing a worried Ryotaro Dojima, with an umbrella on his right hand. He quickly went to one knee to reach the height of his daughter.

"Nanako, where have you been?!" The older Dojima exclaimed in worry. "Your brother and I are worried sick! We called Takumi-kun's house but his mother told me you already left before the rain!" He let out an exasperated sigh. "You know you're still recovering, even the doctors said we should still carefully monitor your condition, especially because it's still winter... and who brought you back home anyway?" Dojima knew he shouldn't push his daughter too much the moment he saw Nanako making **_that certain_** expression at him.

But to his shock, Nanako's sour look was quickly replaced with a bright one.

"Dad, we should eat at Aika-chan's restaurant later!" She flashed a toothy smile.

Dojima was confused for a couple of seconds. "Aika-chan's restaurant... this Aika, is she your brother's classmate? And if so... did you mean the Aiya's?" He mused, to which Nanako nodded vigorously. "Wow, since when did you start to crave for some Chinese food?"

"We should bring big bro with us too!" Nanako spoke excitedly. "It'll be a family dinner!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

Nothing, really.

Sorry if I made any mistakes that maybe hampered your enjoyment of this story.

Traesto.


End file.
